Quote:
Originally Posted by euromodder
...In order to use E85, the ECU should be able to compensate for it, and the valves / valveseals should be hardened to withstand the higher burning temperatures and lack of lubing - you basically get the same valve-issues as with LPG...
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The average EFI car can run upto 50% Ethanol before getting a CEL(Check Engine Light) from an out of spec condition depending on how much range the ECU is given. EFI can compensate for the differences in fueling in most driving since it usually fuels by Oxygen/Lamda Sensor which reads Stoich as 1.0 regardless of the fuel.
Gasoline engines have been using hardened valveseals since the 60's shortly after lead was banned in all pump Gasoline. Lead actually provided the lubrication for valve seals/stems, from my understanding, so hardened valve seals needed to be adopted to keep cars running without it.
If there is any merit to a concern about lubrication I haven't heard of any facts. Considering 2 stroke engines ran reliably with a mixture of 50:1 Gasoline:Oil and 2% of E98 is always an Oil based denaturant and is mixed with at least 15% Gasoline in E85 there doesn't seem to be any lack of Oil for lubrication with E85.
An another note if you noticed only 4 MPG difference from 37 MPG then it was probably your mods and driving changes more than anything else. E85 cannot affect your MPG if you aren't filling up with it
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